Uzumaki Akiko
by Lygatto-Un-Sorceror
Summary: Twelve years ago the Kyubi was sealed into an infant. What if the facts of that were falsified? M in later chapters.
1. Uzumaki Akiko

Twelve years ago the Kyūbi unleashed its rage on Konoha. The Konoha shinobi gave their all to defeat the beast, but even the Yondaime Hokage was not strong enough. Knowing that defeating the Kyūbi would not be possible he sealed it into an infant, a boy that had just been born. Or, at least, that's what the villagers were told. But, that is ancient history. Currently, in Konohagakure, there is a great crowd gathered in a stadium to watch the final matches of an event that is held twice every year, but never in the same village for at least two, the Chūnin Exams.

The proctor for the final exam said to the competitors, "Due to various circumstances I shall be taking over from Hayate. The rules for these fights are the same as you had in the preliminaries. The fights have no restrictions and shall continue until one of the participants acknowledges defeat, or dies. That said, if I determine that a match is over I can step in and stop it at any time, and no arguments permitted. Understood?" The Genin nodded in agreement. "Alright then, will all competitors, other than Uzumaki Naruto and Hyūga Neji, please remove yourselves to the competitor's box." There were sounds of agreement as the Genin walked off the arena floor and headed to the room that they were to wait until their matches were called. Before he left though, Shikamaru said, "Hey, good luck out there Naruto. Neji's a tough one." Naruto said, "Yeah, I know," as he did Shikamaru left the field.

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In the stands Ino was sitting alongside Sakura, who was looking at her clenched fists in her lap, all of her attention on the missing Sasuke. Ino said, "hey Sakura, I know that you're worried about Sasuke, but don't be such a lump. Aren't you even going to cheer Naruto on?"

"Yeah, you're right!" Sakura said, smiling in apology for her sombre attitude.

Ino scoffed and said, "Well, not that he has any chance when he's going up against Neji."

"He's not that bad."

"Are you kidding," Ino laughingly said, "'_not that bad_', is that the best you can do?"

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Elsewhere in the stands Hagane Kotetsu said to Kamizuki Izumo, "Man, who would've believed that that little squirt could survive this long."

Izumo said, "Yeah, he's been lucky so far, but his luck's about to run out. He'll never survive this one."

"Yeah, it's going to be painful, going up against one of the Hyūga Clan...he doesn't have a chance."

Kiba, who was sitting two seats away, thought, '_yeah, I thought that too, at first. But look what happened. He's out there and I'm up here._' Akamaru whimpered in his ear, causing Kiba to quietly ask, "Yeah Akamaru, what is it?" Akamaru gave a series of whines, telling Kiba what he wanted to know. "What? Are you sure?...Where?" Kiba narrowed his eyes as he searched for what Akamaru had told him about. When he saw a masked man wearing a black, hooded, cloak, he thought, '_There! What the _hell_ are the ANBU Black Ops doing here? Something's going on._'

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Back down on the arena floor Neji asked, "Have you got anything to say to me, loser?"

Naruto extended his hand in a fist and said, "Only what I said last time. I vow to win."

Neji activated his Byakugan. Reading Naruto's body language, Neji thought, '_he's calmer now, more sure of himself. Although there's still that weird feeling about his chakra,_' Neji chuckled before saying, "So much the better for me. I can't wait to see the look of despair upon your face when you learn your foolish vow is impossible to keep."

Naruto demanded, "Are we gonna stand here talking all day? Let's get going. Show me what you got!"

Hayate said, "Alright, now let the first match, begin!" and jumped out of the way of the two combatants.

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In the box that is owned by the Hyūga Clan Hiashi said to his youngest daughter, "Watch closely Hanabi, there is no one alive in the Hyūga clan who has inherited such a strong Kekkei Genkai. His is stronger than your older sisters."

Hanabi gasped and, looking up at her father, asked, "Stronger than Onee-san's?"

Hiashi said, "Perhaps even stronger than yours," causing Hanabi to gasp in surprise, although she didn't know if it was because her father was telling her that Neji's skill with the Byakugan surpassed hers, or that he was telling her that she was stronger than her older sister.

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Elsewhere in the stands, Kiba thought, '_Watch yourself, that's no pushover you're up against. Not with that Byakugan of his. You _don't _want to get too close with this guy...but does Naruto know that?_

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Back down on the arena floor Naruto threw two kunai at Neji, who caught the first and blocked the second with the ring at the end of the handle of the first. As he did Naruto charged at Neji, attacking him after he threw the second kunai away. Neji redirected Naruto's punch and. As he fell Naruto extended his foot to the ground and used it as a springboard to launch himself away from Neji, spinning whilst he travelled through the air to come out of the jump on his feet facing his opponent. Not wasting any time Naruto was almost instantly back in Neji's face, throwing punch after punch, all of which were either redirected, blocked, or dodged. Seeing that his punched were ineffective Naruto spun, attempting a roundhouse kick against Neji. As he did Neji moved inside his guard and, gathering chakra into his hand, struck Naruto in his chest with his palm open. There was a mini explosion of chakra as Naruto was seemingly rendered immobile. As he wavered on his legs Naruto thought back to what Kakashi had told him about the Byakugan when he saw Hinata fighting against Neji in the preliminary matches. Remembering that the Hyūga had the ability to manipulate the chakra flow of their enemies, and seeing Neji extend his arm out as he had when fighting Hinata, Naruto ducked down and rolled backwards as Neji's hand descended upon his shoulder. Even as Naruto rubbed his shoulder where he touched it, Neji thought, 'I_ missed_!'

Naruto thought, '_I almost blew it! If I get too close then he can turn off my chakra! And there goes my jutsu. I'll have to fight him from a distance._'

Neji asked, "Do you understand now? You have no way of beating me."

Naruto grinned, laughed, and said, "Get real, I was just checking you out, that's all!" Naruto then pushed himself up, off the ground. "Okay, now that we're warmed up, we can get started." Naruto made his signature handseal and said, "Kage Bunshin," causing four clones to appear around himself.

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In the stands Sakura thought, '_That's using your head Naruto. That'll confuse him._

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Elsewhere, Kotetsu said, "Well well, isn't he something."

Izumo said, "The Kage Bunshin is a Jounin level jutsu. Where'd that kid pick up something like that?"

"This match could be more interesting than we thought."

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Back on the arena floor all of the Naruto's drew a single kunai from their ninja tool pouches. Neji thought, '_Kage Bunshin, I see, quite clever_. _He has distributed his chakra evenly across all of them, so even my Byakugan can't pick out the real one.'_ He said, "No matter, you can't hide for long."

All of the Naruto said, "Hah, well we'll just see about that!"

"If you're coming, then come on!" prompting the Naruto's to frown at Neji's still underestimating him.

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In the stands Tenten said, "It's no use. No matter how many times Naruto attacks him Neji can win on his defence alone."

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Back down on the arena floor one of the Naruto's said, "Hey!"

Another said, "don't _ever._"

Another one said, "I mean _never_."

"Count me out!" a different one said, before four of them ran at Neji. As two of them went to tackle Neji he place his hands on their backs and used them to launch himself into the air, coming down behind them. The other two launched at Neji with kunai in their hands, but they were redirected away from Neji. One of them came in close to Neji and tried to kick at his chin to initiate his 'Uzu-Ma-Ki-Naruto Rendan'.

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in the stands Sakura practically leapt out of her seat, saying, "He got him!"

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Elsewhere in the stands, Tenten said, "Just wait."

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Down in the arena Neji jumped back, away from the kick, landing nearby one of the other Naruto's.

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in the stands Sakura looked on in shock as Hinata looked down, clenching her hands to her chest, wanting nothing more than for Naruto to survive Neji, so that all of her beliefs are real.

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Down in the arena, Naruto said, "Not bad, but let's see you do that again!" and two of the clones rushed at Neji, determined to inflict as much pain as possible. Neji took the signature stance of the Jyūken. Two of the Naruto's said, "Come on!" as they charged at the Hyūga prodigy, who jumped up, spinning horizontal to the ground. When the clones were close enough he exited his spin, bringing his feet around, kicking both clones in the head, dispelling them into dual clouds of smoke. As he did, the other two clones rushed at Neji from behind, but, utilising the Byakugan's powers, Neji saw them coming and, when they were close enough, reached behind him and pulled the two cloned in front of him, causing them to overbalance and stumble forward. When the two clones regained their balance and started to move to look at Neji, Neji sped at them and, to the consternation and disbelief of his friends in the stands, used two Jyūken strikes, dispelling them as well.

Naruto mentally growled out, '_This guy he must have eyes in the back of his head._'

Neji, not even looking at Naruto, said, "You thought that _you_ could be Hokage? It's absurd. Never. These eyes of mine show me many things. One thing that they have shown me is that people's limitations are set, fixed and unchangeable. Only a fool wastes his time trying to become something that he can _never_ be."

Naruto, shaking in anger, said, "A fool, huh? Not this crap again! Who are you to judge what a person can and cannot be?"

"Do you think that just anyone can be Hokage? That all it takes is a little hard work? Open your eyes. Of all the shinobi in all the world, think how many ever become Hokage. They were born, destined, to be Hokage. It's not something that you become by simply trying to become it. They were chosen, by destiny. Each person is given his own path to follow, and he must follow it, obediently, to the end. There is only one destiny that we all share equally. Death."

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in the stands Hinata clutched he hands to her chest, feeling fear for Naruto, and Neji's sentiments about fate.

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Elsewhere in the stands, Hiashi thought, '_There's hatred in his eyes. Hatred directed at the Main Branch of the family._'

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down on the arena floor, Naruto said, "Oh yeah? So what? You can think that way if you want, just don't try to push your pathetic beliefs on me. People always tell me that I don't know when to give up," Naruto formed a handseal before saying, "Kage Bunshin," causing many, many, clones to appear around him.

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Outside the arena Kabuto crept up behind one a member of the ANBU Black Ops that were scattered throughout the town, just in case something happened. He silently slit the ANBU members neck and took his mask and cloak, donning them himself to use to infiltrate the Chūnin Exam Finals without being discovered. He said, "Put on a good show, will you, Naruto. You know, I've got a tough job to do and I'd like to be entertained while I'm doing it."

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In the arena the clones that Naruto had made charged at Neji all at once. Throwing punches and kicks seemingly at random, but all of which were dodged by Neji, who then dispelled the clones with one strike each. The Naruto clones, panting from both the strain on their chakra from all the clones and from the drawn out taijutsu battle, said, "This is ridiculous. We're not even getting close to this guy."

Neji mocked Naruto, saying, "You think that I'd be fooled by a trick like that?" before charging straight through all the Naruto clones. He thought, '_Make all the clones you want, you can't hide from me!_' The Naruto that Neji had identified as the real one gasped before being attacked in the heart by a Jyūken strike. The Naruto that was attacked grunted in agony as his face twisted due to the pain. In the stands Hinata gasped at her cousins actions. Neji said, "You're the one keeping out of range for fear of my striking your chakra points, like this. The more the _others_ attack, the more _you_ stand out for holding back." The Naruto coughed up blood as Neji closed his eyes in satisfaction. "You're the real one, aren't you?"

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In the stands Hinata said, "Naruto," expressing her anguish in one word.

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Kotetsu said, "The match is over."

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On the battlefield Neji said, "I told you it was pointless."

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In the stands Hinata said, "No, don't give up Naruto."

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On the battlefield the Naruto that was attacked fell to the ground, only staying up due to his falling on one knee. To Neji's amazement, the Naruto that he had attacked actually started laughing. The Naruto said, "Oh yeah? Didn't I tell you it was a mistake to count me out?" before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Neji took a step back in confusion. He asked, "But how..." as he did two Naruto's jumped at him.

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in the stands Kiba yelled, "Alright! Way to go, Naruto!"

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Hinata said, "Naruto," this time expressing happiness at her love's surviving Neji's attack.

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On the battlefield Neji thought, '_He held one of his clones back, to deceive me, to lure me into a trap!_'

Naruto, fist drawn back, yelled, "You thought I'd be too chicken to attack you myself? Well think again!" as he finished his taunt Naruto punched at Neji as hard as he could, but didn't achieve a thing as Neji focused his chakra at one point, expelling it through individual Tenketsu, hardening it at the same time, to block Naruto's punch.

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As chakra exuded from Neji, in the stands Hiashi's eyes narrowed.

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The chakra that Neji was expelling formed into a sphere, circling around him. Neji then spun rapidly on the spot, increasing the rotational force of his chakra, and sending both the real Naruto, and the last remaining clone away from him.

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In the stands Hiashi said, "But that's..."

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On the battlefield the dirt in the spin radius was blasted away from Neji. Naruto looked up from his position on the ground and demanded, "What the heck was that?"

Neji said, "Did you really think that you'd won?" Naruto propped himself up on one arm.

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in the stands Ino asked, "What in the world just happened?"

Sakura commented, "Naruto's punch should have flattened him."

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Elsewhere Hinata said, "But that was..."

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elsewhere Hiashi grabbed his knee, both in shock and fear, at seeing Neji's accomplishment. He said, "Hakkeshō Kaiten!"

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Tenten thought, '_That's one of Neji's special defences,..._'

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Naruto, forming the seal for Kage Bunshin, said, "We'll see about that!" creating six clones.

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Tenten continued her thought, '_...he can see almost three hundred and sixty degrees with his Byakugan. It's pointless, he can detect any attack as soon as it's launched. That's when his _real _defence comes into play, the Hakkeshō Kaiten..._'

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on the battlefield the Naruto's charged at Neji, who once again performed the Hakkeshō Kaiten, blowing them away in an explosion of chakra.

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'_The moment that he senses an attack Neji discharges an intense, focused, burst of chakra from his Tenketsu. Then, by rotating his body quickly, he builds up enough energy to not only block, but repel his attacker. Normally, chakra emitted from chakra points is difficult to control. Even Jounin can usually only control chakra from a single body part at a time, like the hands, or feet. But Neji's mastery of the Jyūken style of taijutsu is so great that he can emit chakra from several places, warding off simultaneous attacks from multiple directions. It's an ultimate defence, even more impenetrable than Gaara's shell of sand. _Nothing_ can get through it._'

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In the competitor's box Gaara's eyes narrowed dangerously.

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In the stands Hanabi, looking up at her father, said, "But...I thought only father could..."

Hiashi said, "It's a secret ninja art, for generations it's been reserved for the main household of the Hyūga Clan, but Neji has somehow discovered it on his own. Incredible as it may seem, he's come far."

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Tenten thought, '_no-one should be surprised, you haven't even _begun_ to see his full powers._'

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On the battle field, as Naruto sat up, Neji said, "This is the end for you. You're in range, and you can't escape my Eight Trigrams." As he did an intricate, green, seal array appeared around Neji and Naruto. Naruto stood up as Neji took a stance and said, "Hakke Rokujūyon Shō."

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In the stands Hiashi leaned forward as he said, "That stance...it can't be."

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On the battleground Neji grinned before rushing at Naruto. When he was in range, Neji spun and announced the number of Tenketsu that he had closed as he closed them.

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In the stands Hiashi thought, '_have we been surpassed by the Branch Family?_'

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As Naruto's final Tenketsu was shut down he flew off the ground from where he was standing. But, before he hit the ground, a series of black lines extended from above his chakra well. After the seals disappeared he was engulfed by a black sphere of chakra that exuded from him.

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Naruto was, once again, dragged inside his mindscape, but he was still engulfed in a black sphere of chakra. He screamed in agony as something tore at his bones and muscles, along with every cell in his body.

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Outside of Naruto's mind the crowd was awed into silence, both by the sphere that had seemingly consumed one of the fighters, and by the screams originating from it.

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In the mindscape, to Naruto, it seemed as though hours had passed, where in actual fact it was merely seconds. This did actually happen as time moved faster in Naruto's mind then it did in the real world. After almost a day in the mindscape had passed, which was equivalent to one minute in the real world, Naruto emerged from the sphere, but Naruto was nothing like what he was when he entered it. The most glaring difference was that he was now very much a she, with long, blonde hair, with four golden locks falling above her eye and extending to the left down, in front of her ear. One lock extending to the bridge of her nose. Another two locks extended over her right ear while the rest was flowing in waves three quarters of the way down her back. Getting the feeling that her tenant was behind the change Naruto proceeded to head to where she knew that the Kyūbi was, falling over as she walked, eventually leaning against the wall to keep her balance. When she reached the caged Kyūbi, she demanded, "what the hell did you do, you damn fox?"

The Kyūbi, who knew exactly what was happening, said, "I had absolutely nothing to do with this, human. It was your precious Sandaime Hokage did this."

"What?" Naruto asked.

"Oh yes, the day you were born, when I was sealed into you, the Sandaime decided that, should the villagers have any misconceptions, it would be easier on you if you were in actual fact, male instead of female."

"Why would he do that?" Naruto asked, a tear trickling down her left cheek.

"Because, for captured Kunoichi there is the added possibility of their being raped. It would not be out of the scope of possibility that the villagers, should they be labouring under any dumbass beliefs, may attempt a similar act upon you. And, should that occur, I would, without fail, murder each and every one of them. So the Sandaime contacted a medic-nin that had a lot of experience in Fūinjutsu. 'Luckily' for the Sandaime, the medic was from the Hyūga clan and devised a way to manipulate all of your 'Yin' chakra to forcibly change your genetic structure. The problem with that is that it would need to be maintained. That's why when Neji blocked off your chakra, he also blocked off the Yin chakra that was being used to maintain the seal. When the seal was released I flooded your system with my chakra, eliminating any possibility that that blasted seal could be placed upon you again."

"Okay, I suppose that I can understand that. But that doesn't help me any in this situation."

"No, you're completely right. It doesn't."

"Hell, I had to practically drag myself here. There's no way that I could fight an academy student, let alone Neji like this."

The Kyūbi sighed and said, "You're absolutely correct. Now what you're about to see is something that, over the centuries, very few people have even heard of, let alone seen."

"Huh?" Naruto asked, unsure of what her tenant was talking about.

"Just watch," the Kyūbi said as it was engulfed in a black sphere of chakra, as Naruto was previously. The sphere that the Kyūbi was in disappeared almost instantly, leaving behind a beautiful, red haired woman in her twenties, with her hair in two braids tied in two white tassels, wearing a bright red kimono with billowing grey clouds on the end of its sleeves. She was also wearing a black obi.

Naruto pointed at the Kyūbi, saying, "You're...you're..."

"Yes yes, that's the usual reaction. Anyway, the reason that I've transformed like this is that this form grants me access to some pretty unique powers. These powers require a more delicate touch than my other 'inflict as much destruction as possible' powers."

"Okay..." Naruto said, unsure of what these 'powers' might be. "...so what are they?"

"Yes well, they're not really related to actual combat. Now, let me ask you some questions."

"Okay, sure."

"Your pants, shirt and jacket feel tighter now that you've returned to your true gender, right?"

"Well, now that you mention it..."

"I thought as much, it's because of your widened hips and growing breasts that your clothes no longer fit you. One of the powers that I referred to will take care of that, come closer to my cage." Seeing that Naruto looked uncertain the Kyūbi said, "don't worry, this time I'm not going to try and hurt you, after all, I can't really let my container be weak now, can I?" Naruto, shrugging, took a few, stumbling, steps forward. The Kyūbi extended her right arm past the cage's bars, placing it on Naruto's head, and said, "Meshikae(1)," causing Naruto's clothes to take on an orange glow as they morphed into new, more suitable ones. The Kyūbi said, "Okay, now that that's done, what say you about taking care of those movements of yours?"

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Naruto sarcastically remarked.

"Well, if you don't want me to then..."

"No no, please do," Naruto eagerly said, belying her previous statement.

"Alright then," the Kyūbi said, shuffling a bit in her cage before extending her left hand out of the bars. She said, "Nijikioku(2)." Naruto fell to her knees, clutching her head in pain as the memories of a fighting style unfamiliar, but somehow familiar, to her flooded her mind. When the memories stopped flowing, the Kyūbi said, "Now, move around Akiko, I think that you'll find it a lot easier now."

Naruto asked, "Why did you just refer to me as Akiko?"

"Don't ask me the details of how I know, as the Sandaime will likely have kept you in the dark for a reason, but I knew your parents and, when they were deciding what to call you, they came to an agreement. Your father could name you if you were a girl, and your mother if you were a boy. The Sandaime knew of this, and of the names that they chose. Akiko was your father's choice."

"I see...very well then, it'll take a bit of getting used to, but Akiko it is."

"Okay, there's something else that I need to tell you about that seal."

"Yeah?"

"All Shinobi have two basic types of chakra, Yin chakra and Yang chakra, I'll say again, don't ask me to go into any great detail, we don't have the time. But know this, if the shinobi has an overabundance of one of the types, then their chakra becomes unbalanced, and a _lot_ harder to control in any productive way. The seal that they used, utilised _all_ of your Yin chakra to maintain it, thereby practically eliminating any type of ninjutsu and genjutsu."

"What?" Naruto asked, her eyes widening.

"Yes, a terrible side-effect but they deemed it worth it to protect the village, after all, a shinobi still has taijutsu, right?"

"Okay, so now that I have my Yin chakra back I can actually use my chakra more effectively?"

"Yes."

"Alright!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping in glee, but then she thought of something. "Wait, even if I _can_ use it better, I don't know anything to use it in."

"Ah, but I can help you there too."

"Alright," Naruto said, taking a step closer to the Kyūbi's outstretched hand.

The Kyūbi said, "Nijikioku," as she placed her hand on Naruto's head, causing a rush of handseals, chakra control methodologies, and jutsu, being embedded into Naruto's mind.

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While all that was going on, outside the black chakra sphere the Sandaime, in the Kage box, was sweating profusely. The Kazekage didn't miss this, and asked, "Hokage-dono, what seems to be the problem?"

The Sandaime sighed and said, "I'm sure that you'll find out soon enough." '_I just hope that Kushina's temper hasn't been passed along to Akiko_...well...too much anyway_._'

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In the stands Hinata looked on in fear at what was happening to Naruto and pain at the screams that everyone was hearing. Not to mention confusion as about a minute ago, the sound of the screams changed, now they were of a higher pitch than they had been. Kiba looked to Hinata and said, "I'm sure that he's alright in there Hinata," trying to reassure the Hyūga heiress.

"No, there's no possible way that that's the case."

"Huh?"

"Did you see those lines that appeared on Naruto before he was engulfed in that sphere?"

"Huh? Lines? What're you talking about?"

"They signify that a Fūinjutsu was placed on Naruto-kun. I'm guessing that it was very early on in his life." She then thought, '_But I could swear that that seal I saw was similar to the Hyūga Sōke no Juinjutsu. Why would one of the Hyūga..._'

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Elsewhere in the stands Hiashi thought, '_So, it's finally time for the Yondaime's true legacy to reveal herself?_'

Hanabi looked to her father and asked, "O-tosan, what was that that just appeared on Naruto-san before that black sphere appeared?"

Hiashi sighed and said, "That is a piece of history that I, personally, would rather forget."

"Forget? Why?"

"Because, that night we stripped away a young girl's true abilities, now they may be awakening and I'm not sure that any of us here are ready for it, least of all your cousin."

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Elsewhere Ino was screaming, "What the hell is going on in there!"

Sakura yelled, "What is this? Some kind of special effect?"

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In the competitors box Shikamaru, who had been asked what he thought was going on, remarked, "I've got no idea what just happened, but whatever it is, it's going to be troublesome."

Temari thought, '_I'm not surprised that he doesn't know. I wouldn't even have a clue as to what it was if I didn't know Gaara. I don't know what it did, but someone put a seal on him, I don't know what it does specifically, but it's probably affected his chakra somehow. That's why his control over it was so shoddy in the first rounds of this exam. Whatever it did, the fight from here on is going to be a different story._'

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On the battlefield Genma thought, '_So, it's finally time for Akiko's awakening? This should be interesting._'

Neji asked, "Proctor-san, would you please call the match. I'm getting tired of waiting around for this."

Genma said, "No, just wait a minute, it'll all be over soon."

"How can you possibly know that?" Genma smiled in silent response. "Tseh, fine then," Neji said, deactivating his Byakugan to conserve his chakra. As he did he say the chakra sphere change colour to a regular blue. A minute later the sphere died down completely, letting Akiko slowly descend to the ground.

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When Akiko emerged from the sphere the crowd was surprised to see a girl with long, blonde hair, wearing Hakama-style pants that ended below her knees. An orange Gi-style shirt that showed her shoulders and that had the sleeves splaying out about halfway down her forarm. There was a triangular extension of the shirt that reached past her thin black, obi-style, belt that had the symbol of Konohagakure printed in black on it. The back of the shirt extended down to her knees, ending in a triangle. The hems of the shirt were all trimmed in black. At her hips were buckles, on either side, that allowed her to adjust the waist of her pants so that she didn't need to constantly buy, or have the Kyūbi generate, new ones every three months or so, the cord that wasn't being used dangled down to just above her knees at the end of which were a pair of orange tassels. She was also wearing a pair of open-toed nin-sandals. She was also wearing an orange and black, wireless, sports bra to take care of her now 32B sized breasts, and panties to match. While Neji took a few steps back in shock at the sight, Akiko turned to the proctor and asked, "Uh, proctor-san, if I could, would I be able to change the name on my registration form?"

"Well, I have no problems," Genma said before turning to look at the Hokage and shouting, "Sandaime-sama, is it alright for Naruto to change the name on his...uh...her registration form?"

The Sandaime called, "Yes, it's fine."

"There you go," Genma said, facing Naruto, "What name would you like to use?"

"Uzumaki Akiko," Akiko replied.

Genma nodded, thinking, '_how could she...ah well..._' before silencing the crowd by saying, "Alright then, the match between Hyūga Neji and Uzumaki Akiko shall now recommence."

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In the stands Sakura half-asked half-stated, "Uzumaki...Akiko?"

Ino remarked, "Well, at least it's a better name than Naruto."

Sakura, getting over her shock screamed out, "Naruto! That pervert! I'm going to get him for this when the match is over."

Ino thought, "Naru...uh...Akiko, how could you put up with forehead if she's like this?"

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"Akiko?" Kiba asked, feeling kind of guilty as he felt his manhood rise at the sight of the blonde.

Hinata fainted, a trickle of blood running down from her nose, at the realisation that the one that she had loved for so long was, in actual fact, the same gender as her as she thought, '_I'm a lesbian!_'

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Hanabi looked at her father in surprise that he had actually known what was about to happen. She asked, "O-tosan, what just..."

Hiashi sighed and said, "On the night of her birth Akiko had something done to her that put her life at risk. The Sandaime, to reduce that risk, had a Hyūga seal away her true gender. This was done by forcing her Yin chakra to act as a kind of suppressant."

"But that would..."

"Yes, it sealed away any possibility of her reaching her full potential. Now I'm afraid that she will lose in the most undignified way."

"Why is that?"

"Because of the sudden physiological changes Akiko shouldn't be able to move correctly. In a fight against a Hyūga clan member that disadvantage is too great to overcome." As Hiashi finished saying this he saw a sight that he hadn't seen for many, many, years.

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On the battlefield, as Akiko stared at Neji, her hair started to rise up above her head, forming into nine, flowing, tresses, as her eyes started to glow an eerie yellow. Genma thought, '_the Aka Habanero! Neji's in for it now._'

Neji took a step back at the weird actions of his opponent. Seeing this Akiko disappeared before reappearing in front of Neji, spinning as she unleashed a powerful blow to Neji's face, sending him skidding over the ground. Akiko took this opportunity to go through some handseals and quickly whisper, only heard by Genma, who raised his eyebrows at hearing the name, "Genjutsu: Okurasu."

When Neji pushed himself up he shook his head and said, "You got lucky that time, that _won't_ happen again," prompting Akiko to, once again, reappear in front of Neji, landing another haymaker, sending him flying once again.

Akiko asked, "What was that you were saying?"

Neji looked up from his position on the ground, growled, pushed himself up and started running at the blonde menace. He said, "I don't know how you managed to throw it off last time, but this time there's no coming back, Hakke Rokujūyon Shō." As Neji attacked, to his surprise and anger, he saw Akiko dodge every one of his strikes, easily. When Neji was done with his final strike Akiko landed an uppercut on Neji before she quickly drew a kunai from her kunai pouch, said, "Fūton: Shinkūjin(3)," as she breathed wind chakra onto it, lengthening the blade to resemble a Kunai Blade(4). She chased after Neji and used it to cut the tendons to his hands, eliminating any further chance of a taijutsu match.

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In the competitors box Shikamaru said, "It's over."

Shino looked at Shikamaru and asked, "Why is that?"

"Because, Akiko's attack just now severed the tendons to Neji's hands, effectively eliminating anything that Neji could have done." Shikamaru thought, '_While_ _that's true, that Naruto...uh...Akiko could think of something like that on the fly, I wonder what else this transformation of hers has done._'

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When Neji landed he tried to push himself up off the ground, but felt intense pain rushing through his arms and hands, so stopped trying to do so. Neji, seeing that taijutsu was no longer available to him, and lacking any ninjutsu or genjutsu, not that they would have done him any good with his hands unable to form seals, looked at the proctor and said, "I am no longer able to continue."

The Genma announced, "Hyūga Neji has conceded defeat, making Uzumaki Akiko the victor," as he thought, '_I wonder where a plan like that came from...well, Kushina-sama was always an unpredictable one, I suppose it only makes sense that at least some of her was passed on to her daughter. Akiko _might_ be Chūnin level after all._' The crowd, who had previously been stunned silent at Akiko's transformation, and then the, admittedly short, fight that came after it, broke out into thunderous cheers that shook the very stadium. Genma said, "Neji, I want you to go to the medical clinic in the stadium to have your hands healed. Akiko, you go on up to the competitors box to await your next match." With their individual instructions Akiko and Neji left through the arena door, heading to their separate destinations.

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(1) Meshikae = Change Of Clothes  
>(2) Nijikioku = Secondary Memory<br>(3) Fūton: Shinkūjin = Wind Release: Vacuum Blade  
>(4) Kunai Blade = ninja tool - see Naruto wikia for further information.<p> 


	2. Not Just A Jutsu

When Akiko entered the competitor's box for the first time she saw a fist flying towards her face. She ducked under it, took a step forward, and punched her attacker in their stomach, causing the attacker to double over. When she was certain that her foe was unable to attack her for a while Akiko stood back up and strode over to the benches lined along the back wall of the box and sat down. Shikamaru, having heard an 'oof' looked over to see what was going on and, seeing Sakura lying spread out on the floor, said, "Well, it's troublesome for me to say Sakura, but you had that one coming." Sakura, hearing Shikamaru's sentiment, groaned in pain.

Recovering quickly Sakura stood bolt upright and stomped over to Akiko. She said, "Naruto, you pervert!" and proceeded to, once again, try and knock her teammate out, failing miserably as Akiko repeatedly moved her head out of the way of Sakura's fist, easily dodging each and every punch. Sakura growled in frustration at the, to her, hitherto unknown fact that whenever she hit Naruto he was actually letting her.

Akiko coldly asked, "Is your hand sore enough yet, Sakura?"

Sakura growled out, "Why you!"

Shikamaru, well and truly sick and tired of Sakura's ridiculous attempts to inflict bodily harm on her teammate, asked, "It's not just some jutsu, is it?"

Sakura looked between Shikamaru and Akiko as Akiko said, "No, it's not."

Akiko's statement prompted Sakura to ask the, ever intelligent, question, "Huh?"

Shikamaru asked, "So, are you going to tell us what happened inside that sphere?"

"Yeah, I'll go into more detail with you later, but suffice it to say that, when I was born, my Yin chakra was used to change my gender, so this is actually what I should have been from the start. It's also why Ninjutsu and Genjutsu have always been difficult for me."

"I had wondered. It seems that you picked up some new tricks while you were in that sphere too."

"Yeah."

"That was an interesting Genjutsu that you used on Neji. I bet he didn't even realise that you'd used it."

"Huh? Genjutsu?" Sakura asked, before dismissively saying, "There's no way that someone like Naruto could _ever_ use something as intricate and advanced as genjutsu."

Temari, having been interested in, and eavesdropping on, the conversation, sighed and said, "Weren't you listening just now you pink banshee? Akiko's Yin chakra was sealed away. I don't know what they teach you in your academy, but there are many different chakra elemental types. There's the commonly known Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning and Wind elements. But beyond them there is also Yin chakra and Yang chakra. It can be said that most Genjutsu fall well and truly under Yin release, and, since Yin chakra is based on the spiritual energy that governs the imagination, can be used to create form out of nothingness, you could say that it is also a very important element in all ninjutsu, at least elemental ninjutsu at any rate."

"Huh?" Sakura asked, not really getting what the Sunagakure ninja was saying.

Shikamaru sighed, "We did actually cover it in the academy, but you were too busy gushing over Sasuke at the time. Basically sealing away a person's Yin chakra eliminates almost any possibility of a ninja using ninjutsu or genjutsu at any high level. It also tends to affect intelligence."

"So then..."

"Akiko's intelligence is quite possibly close to my level."

Akiko said, "I wouldn't quite go that far, but yes. Due to the seal's breaking both my cognitive abilities, and my control over my chakra, have increased by leaps and bounds."

"Uhh..." Sakura intelligently said, thinking, '_That's not good...that would mean that, if Naru...Akiko, hadn't had that seal placed on her, then I might not have been placed on Sasuke-kun's team!_'

Akiko asked, "Let me guess, you're second-guessing your being placed on our team?"

Sakura thought, '_Can she read minds now too?_'

"No, I'm not reading your mind."

Sweatdrops started running down Sakura's face as she was increasingly weirded out by Akiko's seeming ability to know what she was thinking, before she even thought it. Sakura nervously said, "right then...I think I'll just go back to my seat."

"Yeah, bye!" Akiko said smiling.

Shikamaru said, "Yeah, later," as Sakura left the box. He then turned to Akiko and asked, "Did you really have to cold-read her?"

"Does ramen taste better with Naruto in it?"

"Uhh...I'm not entirely sure, that's a better comparison for Chouji."

"Okay...how about is rice white?"

"Usually."

"Argh! Ah, whatever. I just felt like messing with her, that's all. Hmph, she deserved it."

Temari said, "That's true."


	3. Not Just Akiko

Aceina

1. I put to you, if Sakura likes Naruto then why does she hit him for making even the slightest error, and do nothing to anyone else? Besides, I'm just not really a fan of her.  
>2. Personally, I believe that Sasuke's 'genius' comes from being trained at an earlier age, and his gimmicky Sharingan. And I haven't made Akiko a 'genius' in ninjutsu, merely intelligence. She knows how to use the jutsu first time because the memories of them were implanted into her by the Kyūbi.<br>3. If you're really going to argue specifics, the Kyūbi's name is actually Kurama, not Kurami, and this is _fanfiction,_ if you just want the canon, then read it.

adngo714  
>The English translations are at the bottom of each chapter. If I have missed any, please cite a paragraph number and I will take care of it.<p>

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While Sakura had been failing in her assault against Akiko, things had not been idle in the stadium. Genma called out, "Okay, the next match will be Gaara of Sunagakure vs. Dosu of Otogakure."

Dosu jumped down, eager to get their match underway as Gaara disappeared in a sand Shunshin. Once the two fighters were down there Genma said, "Alright, since you two don't seem the type to blab all day, I'll just go on and start the match. Begin!"

Dosu said, "Let's see which ones faster, your sand, or my sound."

Gaara said, "I don't think you can validate my existence," as he extended his arm, causing his sand to rush forward at Dosu. Dosu punched at Gaara, but, as he did, he was engulfed in sand, blocking the echo chamber in his gauntlet, nullifying his attack. As the sand engulfed Dosu Gaara said, "Sabaku Kyū(1)." When the sand had completely restricted Dosu's movements Gaara said, "Sabaku Sōsō," clenching his hand, causing an explosion of sand and blood to occur, shocking the audience at the brutality and complete inconsideration of human life shown by the Genin.

Genma, shaking off his surprise by the move, said, "The winner of this match, Gaara." As he was awarded the victory Gaara disappeared in another Sand Shunshin.

Genma called out, "The next match is between Aburame Shino and Kankurou of Sunagakure." Shino, determined to make a better showing than Akiko, and thereby get promoted over her, jumped down to the arena floor as soon as he heard his name. When he was on the floor he slowly walked over to Genma's location.

Meanwhile, up in the competitor's box, Kankurou thought '_Hmm...I should probably go down there and fight a drawn out battle to give Sasuke more time to get here, but if I do that then there's the likelihood that I'll have to show them Crow before our plan comes to fruition.'_ He called out, "Proctor, I withdraw from my match."

Genma looked at Shino and said, "Well, you'd better head on back to the competitor's box. The winner, by forfeit, is Aburame Shino. Next up is...huh?"

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In the competitor's box Temari sighed and thought on what Kankurou had done, '_Knowing him Kankurou probably forfeited because he wanted to hide 'Crow' for the plan. Well, it's my turn anyway. So here 'goes._' Temari drew her battle-fan and swung it, generating massive amounts of winds. She then descended to the arena floor next to Genma, even before her name was called.

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"...Huh? Who are you?" Genma asked as Temari appeared before him.

"What d'you mean? It's my match next isn't it?"

Genma smiled and said, "You're an eager one. Very well then, the next match is between Temari of Sunagakure and Nara Shikamaru."

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The crowd, hearing the name 'Nara', thought, '_So, it's a member of one of the great clans' turn huh?_' and started cheering, before Shikamaru actually fell(read pushed) to the arena ground, landing on his back and stare at the clouds, not moving a muscle.

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Temari looked up at the competitor's box and said, "Well, I'm not sure which is more interesting, his enthusiasm, or his luck in surviving a fall from that height."

When Shikamaru lay where he was Genma got tired of waiting and said, "Alright, begin."

Temari shrugged as she looked at Shikamaru and said, "Well well, I guess I was wrong about you Konoha-nin."

Shikamaru, not looking up, asked, "Huh? What was that?"

"It would appear that Akiko is the only one with any fight in her. The rest of you are just a bunch of wimps, like that bun-girl that I decimated in the preliminaries."

Shikamaru growled and said, "You know what, I was considering giving up, but now that you went off and said something like that I don't think that the proctor would let me," as he stood up.

Temari smirked as she unfolded her battle-fan and swung it, saying, "Kamaitachi(3)," causing multiple blades of wind rush at Shikamaru, who proceeded to run as fast as he could towards the only cover provided, the trees. "So, running away is all you can do is it? Looks like I was right."

"You know, it's not considered very honourable to beat a girl, but hey, you're not really a girl, are you?"

Temari, fuming, asked, "Huh?"

"You're just a Kijo(4)" Temari's face scrunched up in anger as she drew back her fan and let rip with another, larger, gust of wind, this one blowing the tree almost to the point of uprooting itself. Shikamaru thought '_Okay, stop pissing off the scary Kunoichi._' Shikamaru then made a handseal, quietly saying, "Kageton: Kage Nui(5)," sending his shadow underground.

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Authors Notes:

(1) Sabaku Kyū = Sand Binding Coffin  
>(2) Sabaku Sōsō = Sand Waterfall Funeral<br>(3) Kamaitachi = Sickle Weasel  
>(4) Kijo = Female Demon<br>(5) Kageton: Kage Nui = Shadow Release: Shadow Sewing

I am well aware that there is no such thing as 'Kageton', but for this story it does make sense.


	4. Origin of the Tailed Beasts

Temari waited for her opponent to do something, as she knew, from the preliminary match, that Shikamaru could only manipulate his own shadow, so long as there was enough light to differentiate between what is shadow and what is not...or so she thought. She was therefore surprised into inaction when he speared her feet with the shadow he'd sent underground, where there was always shadow to be manipulated. Temari sent another Kamaitachi at Shikamaru, causing him to lose his concentration, releasing his jutsu, freeing Temari to continue on with the fight the way that it did in the anime.

XXXXXXX

Genma, in a rather melodramatic fashion, announced, "Due to the fact that there is an odd number of participants this year, Uchiha Sasuke was unable to draw an opponent for the first round. As such we will be progressing on to the second round immediately." A lot of the crowd was disappointed, having come to the stadium especially to watch the last Uchiha's match. "Now, the first battle of the second round is between Uzumaki Akiko and Sabaku no Gaara. Will both combatants come to the battlefield." Even as he was talking he thought, '_Although it would be better if Akiko forfeited the match now, since despite somehow learning her mother's style of taijutsu, right now her muscular structure isn't capable of handling it for an extended period._' But he wasn't the least bit surprised to see Akiko jump down to the stadium grounds, rushing to stand by him.

As Akiko waited for Gaara to appear, the Suna-nin took his time walking down the stairs, hoping to increase the fear that he had implanted in the, now, kunoichi of Konoha. Akiko, though, had gotten over her fear over the month-long break. When Gaara got to the field Genma asked for any comments. Gaara didn't offer any. Akiko did. She declared, "Alright you sand-bastard, I'm gonna beat the hell outta you for what you did to bushy-brow!"

"That isn't possible," Gaara said.

"I'll show you what is possible Dattebayo!"

Gaara sighed and said, "The only one that interests _me_ is Sasuke."

"Sasuke, Sasuke, _bloody _Sasuke! That's all anyone wants to hear about. How he lost his family early on in his life. Well I lost _mine_ the day _I_ was _born_, so what about _me_?" A slight tremor of guilt rushed through a lot of the civilians, despite their ridiculous beliefs.

"I don't care. I only care about those that are strong enough to prove my existence, which _you _are not."

"Let's find out!" Akiko declared, fed up with the conversation, allowing Genma to start the match. Akiko disappeared from the sight of most of the audience as she had done against Neji, reappearing behind Gaara, spinning on her right foot, kicking at Gaara's back with he left. Her kick was met with sand. She kicked her left foot backwards, letting the force flip her as she spun to the right, bringing her right foot around to kick at Gaara's head, which was also blocked by his sand. She planted her hand on the ground, channelling chakra to her hand and using it to spin her body on the spot, kicking at Gaara's feet in an attempt to, literally, sweep him off his feet.

Genma thought, _'She's not using her mother's taijutsu. She must have realised that it placed a greater amount of strain on her than normal and so is using her own style instead. It must have been a move born of desperation on the Kyūbi's behalf. After all, in a taijutsu match like the last one, not being able to move as you normally would is too much of a disadvantage. But it looks like normal taijutsu will not be enough against Gaara,' _as he saw Gaara's sand once again defend against Akiko's attack.

Akiko used her chakra to spin away from the suna-nin's leg, pushing herself away from him in order to avoid being captured by his sand as Lee and Dosu had been, dodging streams of rapidly moving sand as she did so, even managing to push off of one of them as it was about to slam into her. Akiko thought, _'Damn! That Sand Shield is tough. Nothing I threw at it worked...and I don't want to use that weird taijutsu that the Kyūbi gave me, it puts too much stress on my muscles. Wait a sec...' _Akiko smirked, coming up with a plan. She said, "Alright you freak! I'm going to cut through that sand in three moves."

In the competitor's box Shikamaru thought, '_Three moves? What could she...wait...cut...?' _as he remembers Akiko's earlier use of Fūton: Shinkūjin.

Akiko knelt to the ground, grabbed some dirt and said, "Henge!" transforming the dirt into a bar of some kind of black material. This confused many in the crowd, who couldn't see the transformed bar, laughing as a result, including Sasuke whom had only just appeared alongside Kakashi, who immediately used Shunshin to seemingly teleport away, in the competitor's box. Shikamaru called him an idiot, not bothering to explain why when ordered to by the arrogant Uchiha.

Akiko then used a Substitution jutsu, garnering more laughter from the crowd when she didn't move an inch, assuming that she had just failed in two successive academy level jutsu. Genma though, wasn't impressed as his Senbon got switched with Akiko's bar, disintegrating back into dirt in his mouth, causing him to cough in disgust. Gaara looked at the instructor and thought, _'Where did that...' _But he didn't have time to finish as he felt pain tear through his arm, courtesy of the senbon that Akiko had thrown, having enhanced it with her wind natured chakra.

Genma thought, _'Smart,' _even as he reprimanded himself for letting Akiko get away with such a trick.

XXXXXX

In the stands, Kakashi glared at Akiko as he demanded, "Gai, what happened," having activated his Sharingan when he saw Akiko out on the field.

Gai said, "If you had gotten here on time like the rest of the competitors, then you'd already know."

"I don't have time to deal with your attitude while some imposter is standing on the field there."

"There's no imposter Kakashi. You should know, after all, that _is_ the daughter of your sensei."

"Daughter?"

"Uzumaki Akiko. Apparently some kind of seal was put on her right after she was born. It was supposedly put on there to protect her, but they managed to seal off all of her yin chakra."

"Her..." Kakashi said as he thought, '_So that's what happened.'_

_"_What I want to know is what kind of training did you give her?_"_

"Me? I pawned Naruto off to Ebisu so that I could get Sasuke ready to look after Naruto and Sakura if I'm unable to." Kakashi felt a wave of killing intent from nearby wash over him that he hadn't felt since the Third Great Shinobi War. _'That's...!'_

"Kakashi," a female voice said.

"What are you doing here I saw you die?"

"I'm not aligned with the Sound village if that's what you are thinking. You should _know _why I am here. But I must admit, I am shocked...no...horrified by what you did. Minato-sensei always made room for _all_ of us. I mean...what were you _thinking _focusing on only one of your students?"

"Rin...I..." Kakashi started to say before being overcome by Rin's powerful killer intent, her hair starting to fly around, like Akiko's had earlier, her eyes taking on a black glow.

Gai raised his hands in front of him and said, "Look Rin, I know what Kakashi has done is unforgivable, but you can't just kill him!"

"Why not?" Rin asked, her righteous fury reflected in her tone. For added effect she let her chakra flicker around her, instead of keeping it within her chakra coils as she does when using her taijutsu style, Sōshiken. As she did her hair settled down some, but not a lot. Kakashi felt a sense of relief when Rin dropped her killing intent. However a sense of dread, unrelated to his old teammate settled itself over him when he felt a feeling that was similar to that which he had felt on the Great Naruto Bridge when Akiko, then Naruto, accessed the Kyūbi's power for the first time. It was similar, yet distinctly different. The reason for which was revealed to him when he joined Gai and Rin at the railing.

XXXXX

While Rin had, rightfully, been taking her anger out on Kakashi Akiko hadn't been sitting around. As Gaara's sand kept after her she jumped back, doing handseals before breathing out a powerful vortex of wind, announcing, "Fūton: Ressenpū." The wind collided with the sand, pushing through the sand, forcing it aside, as it shot towards Gaara. Gaara's sand rushed to coalesce at one point in order to create a protective shield. It successfully stopped the stream of wind, but couldn't stop the kunai coated in wind that stuck into Gaara's right arm.

Gaara screamed, feeling physical pain for what seemed like the first time in his life. Then he started to break into a manic laughter. He growled, "Akikko..." as his sand covered half of his face, surrounding his arm and half of his back. He also now had a sandy tail. His manic laughter died down, being replaced by a mere smile that was indication enough of his insanity. Gaara announced "You're dead!" as he propelled himself towards Akiko with first his tail, then his arm.

Akiko quickly thought, _'No time for half-assed tricks,'_ her hair starting to flay wildly about. Gaara brought his sand-encrusted arm on Akiko, trying to slap her into submission, still having doubts about her ability to prove his existence. Akiko merely ducked, spinning in a crouched position as she drew a kunai and slashed through Gaara's sand arm, not bothering to announce the name of her attack. She then quickly backed away, having no desire to engage in a close quarters match against a monster like that. Even so, she kept up her Sōshiken mode. She thought, _'Okay, so that thing is really fast, plus with that arm it'll have some power in it too...what the hell can I do against that? Although my wind style does seem to be effec...'_

_'Brat!' _Akiko heard in her mind.

_'Is that you Kyūbi?' _Akiko thought, reasoning that if the Kyūbi could mind-talk to her, she should be able to do the same.

_'Who else would it be?'_ Kyubi didn't wait for an answer. _'That brat from Sunagakure has an Ichibi sealed inside it.'_

_"_An_ Ichibi?"_

_'Yes. Some of the summoning clans have, within their ranks, levels derived from the number of tails that they possess. We of the Kitsune are one of the clans that do. Kitsune are considered fire elementals within the tailed beast clans. The Racoon's are aligned with the sand element.'_

_'Then...'_

_'Yeah. That brat has one of the Racoon's Ichibi sealed inside him.'_

_'Well that's just great. Unlike my seal it seems that Gaara's lets him take on the form of the Ichibi sealed in it.'_

_'It seems so. It gets even worse when you take _that _into account.'_

_'_That_? What is 'that'?'_

_'Typically most Ichibi level summons have little control over their powers...although the same could be said of the Racoon's in general. I would take care of this myself, but from in here I can't really do much of anything.'_

_'Then I'll just have to think of something myself,' _Akiko said to the Kyubi sealed in her. Gaara propelled himself towards her once again. She spun around him as he passed by her. After Gaara had shot past Akiko, and was somewhere in the range of ten to fifteen metres away from her, he planted his sand arm on the ground, manipulating it so that he was now flying back at her as she finished her spin, standing still, staring at him, without even a hint that she was going to give up. She thought, _'Okay, so his movements are really linear. That means that I can dodge him easily. Well, at least until he finds a way around it. So...hm...that could work,' _Akiko said, "Alright Gaara. Bring it."


	5. The Unpredictable Ninja Strikes Again

Akiko said, "Alright Gaara. Bring it!" as she drew two explosive tags from her tool pouch and held one in each hand. Gaara shot towards her. She ducked and spun around Gaara as he rocketed past her, unable to touch her once again, this time though, she stuck an explosive tag on the underside of the sandy tail where it met Gaara's back.

This time, instead of continuing on past Akiko, Gaara planted his sand-arm onto the ground, stopping his flight. Then he whipped Akiko to the side, slamming his tail into her as she was attempting to stand. Akiko slammed into the wall. Gaara shot a ball of sand at her in order to keep her where she was, before she could deal more damage than she already had. Gaara almost screeched, "Stop resisting...I can't...con...trooolll!" grabbing his head from the pain.

Akiko smirked and said, "Haven't you heard? I _never _give up!" as she brought her hands together in a seal. Two explosions were generated, stunning most of the spectators, with the exception of Genma, Akiko and the Kage's in their observation box.

XXXXX

As she saw the twin explosions on Gaara's back Temari gripped the handrail as she thought, _'Oh no! How did she managed to discover the only weak point of that transformation?!'_

Shikamaru, who had returned to the competitor's box, not having acquired a spectator's ticket, saw Temari's reaction and thought, _'Does she know something about this freak? Well, it _is _her brother after all.' _Shikamaru let out a sigh of relief when he saw the sand holding Akiko in place fall to the ground, letting her get away.

XXXXX

Back on the field Akiko wasted no time in getting away from the wall, coming to a stop roughly fifteen metres away from the, in her opinion, freak of nature. Gaara sneered, "You shouldn't have done that! Mother doesn't like it when it's my blood!" as sand seeped from every one of his pores. Soon enough he was covered in sand, but what freaked Akiko, and Genma, out more, was when it kept on pouring out, up until it started to take on a shape. A minute later it had formed into a massive, sandy, raccoon.

Akiko said, "Is _this_ the thing you were talking about?" seeing no point in hiding her conversation with her tenant.

_'Yes,' Kyūbi_ said. _'This is the _thing_ that the Sand Village sealed into the poor boy.'_

"Yeah well, this 'poor boy' is going to go berserk, if he hasn't already, destroying most of Konoha along with it,"

Genma said, "Alright, I declare this match over, stand down," looking up at the massive raccoon.

Akiko drily said, "I don't think that he really cares about that right now," looking up at the man that now stood beside her.

Genma started to say, "Maybe not. But your match is ov..." before he felt an area genjutsu being cast on all of those at the stadium. He dispelled it from Akiko as she clearly was unable to do so herself. Akiko snapped out of it. Before she could say anything else though, he said, "I need you to take care of the..."

"No way! This is my match and I'm going to finish it," as she bit on her thumb, letting out the blood necessary for her summoning jutsu. As she did the seals, she heard the Kyūbi try to tell her not to do it, but Akiko ignored her warning, knowing that she would be unable to defeat the Ichibi alone. She slammed her hand on the ground, announcing, "Kuchiyose!" causing a multitude of arcane symbols to extend forth from her hand. Then something happened that no one, except the Kyūbi expected. Akiko disappeared, leaving nothing but a cloud of smoke to tell Genma, and anybody else, what happened.

Genma said, "Typical. The number one unexpected ninja strikes again; and after giving me that line about never giving up too." He thought, _'Well...I guess that I'll have to do something about it after all. It's too bad that Raido and Iwashi aren't here, if they were then we could use the Hiraishin to get this monster out of here...I knew that this was a bad idea, me proctoring this test.'_

XXXXX

Meanwhile, Raido and Iwashi were thinking much the same thing as they saw the monster rise up, dwarfing the stadium from their position on top of the walls of Konoha. Iwashi said, "Let's go Raido, Genma will need our help."

Raido replied, "No way. Our mission is to guard these walls. Genma can handle himself, even without the use of Hiraishin." He thought, _'You better not make a liar out of me Genma. If you do I'll bring you back to life so I can kill you myself.'_

XXXXX

Genma, looking up at the Ichibi in front of him, said, "Well, you're a big one aren't you?" He received only an inaudible screech as a reply, before the Ichibi's massive arm swiped at him. Genma jumped away from the monster, hoping that fighting from a distance would work against the monster in front of him as it had against Gaara for Akiko. Unfortunately he failed to take into account the full size of the Ichibi and got clipped when he was just about to exit the Ichibi's range. As Genma was about to hit the wall, he found himself in the hands of a brown haired kunoichi that he hadn't seen for over a decade, her hair writhing above and around her head. "You're a sight for sore eyes."

"Yeah, better than being just sore," Rin joked.

"I thought I was meant to make the jokes," Genma said, smirking as he stood up.

"You _are_ aware that nobody finds _your_ jokes funny, right?"

"I seem to remember that I could always get a rise out of you."

Rin smiled and said, "I guess so," as she moved to stand next to him.

"Are you combat ready?"

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Rin demanded, her eyes alone enough to make even the strongest cower in fear. "I'm still the Kurokarei(1)," her shadow disappearing as her clothes turned black, leaving her in tight black pants, black, knee-high, shinobi sandals and a black close-fit yukata-style top with slightly darker black trimming.

"What did you..."

"Quit your chattering Genma," Rin almost ordered, her voice eerily calm given the situation, "or do I need to remind you how to fight?"

"Patience mistress impatience." Rin glared at Genma. "Alright, alright, let's go," giving the cue for them both to start their attacks.

XXXXX

In the stands Kakashi and Gai defended against the multiple Otogakure shinobi, fighting them off until Sakura distracted Kakashi, saying, "Sensei, what's going on," after she released the genjutsu that was used to try to put her to sleep.

Gai stepped in to save Kakashi, belting the shinobi, who had taken advantage of Kakashi's inattention and was trying to skewer Kakashi's face, away from them, and the genin nearby. Gai roughly said, "Watch what you're doing Kakashi! And you, Kakashi's brat, don't distract us!"

Kakashi turned to Gai and said, "Have you got this?" Gai nodded. "Sakura, I want you to release the genjutsu on Shikamaru, and any other shinobi you come across, and get any villagers that are still in their homes and on the streets to safety. After that, join the forces protecting the Hospital and other normally soft targets."

"Right!" Sakura said, eager to do her part(supposedly). She then rushed to Shikamaru and lightly hit him on his shoulder, sending chakra into his system, when she realised that he had already released the genjutsu and was now sleeping normally. Sakura screamed, "_Come_...ON!" annoyed with the lazy genin.

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Meanwhile, in the Kage box, Hiruzen said, "So, this was your scheme, Kazekage?"

"Indeed it was, Sarutobi-sensei, although the battle plan has not gone off _quite_ as I had expected it to." Hiruzen smirked. "But don't think that the cause is anything that you or your shinobi accomplished, although Jiraiya's presence was…unexpected."

Hiruzen thought, _Jiraiya? If he's here then we might just stand a chance._' "You are overlooking one other variable, Orochimaru," Hiruzen said, only being called Sarutobi-sensei by the members of the Densetsu no Sannin throughout his career.

"So, you have at least retained some of your faculties in your old age, despite the foolishness you display taking me on directly."

"I once told you to come and challenge me again only once you had raised your own colours and identified your own principles. But I'd never once considered you so foolish as to declare war."

"You are the only fool here Sarutobi. You have only yourself to blame for this."

"Try to understand Orochimaru, there was no way that I could allow you to be Hokage for the same reason that Tobirama-sensei chose me over Danzō as his successor."

"You are comparing _me_ with that old fool? That's it, Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei," Orochimaru announced, slamming his hands on the ground having already discarded his Kazekage disguise, no longer having any use for it. Out of the ground rose two coffins. They were unmarked.

XXXXX

Down on the arena floor things weren't looking good for Rin and Genma. Almost as soon as the transformation had been completed Gaara had used some kind of jutsu that forced him to go to sleep, releasing his tenuous control over the Shukaku, letting it have free reign to do whatever it wanted. Needless to say, things weren't looking too good for the two powerful jōnin. They were attempting to fight the beast while at the same time preventing it from causing any damage to the arena or the surrounding buildings. In order to do so Genma was launching massive fireballs in order to counter the massive blasts of wind that the racoon was shooting in order to sate its destructive impulse, but he was rapidly running out of chakra.

Rin was incapable of attacking the Shukaku as, despite her armours effectiveness in defending against the tailed beast's attacks, she just wasn't big enough to defeat it by herself. She needed something big. Unfortunately the arena that they were in was not big enough to fit two boss-level summons. "Shit!" she spat.

Genma called, "What is it?"

Rin yelled back, "We can't beat this monster by ourselves Genma." Genma started to say something, but Rin cut him off. "Don't try to lie to me, or yourself. You know it's true."

Genma sighed and asked, "What…can we do about it then? If neither of _us_ can there's nobody else here who could."

"I didn't say that it was impossible for us, just we need some outside assistance. Face it, that thing's just too big for humans to fight against."

"Ah," Genma said, understanding where Rin was going with this. "In that case I'll need Raido and Iwashi."

"So stop wasting time and get them."

"Right!" Genma said, rushing off to retrieve his teammates, marking the arena wall with a Hiraishin seal. Rin moved to where Genma had marked the seal and removed her headband and held it by both ends, straightening it, forming the handle of a metallic bow that shot arrows of a black energy. Shukaku sent another massive ball of whirling winds at Rin, who shot an arrow at the ball. The arrow exploded upon contact, countering the wind jutsu with a fire jutsu as she had been taught.

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A/N

(1) Kurokarei = Black Beauty

**Jutsu**

**Rin**

**Jin'ei Musha(Man's Shadow Warrior):** Rin's jutsu that earned her the title Kurokarei. It causes her shadow to transform whatever she is wearing into a form of dense armour. This has the added effect of increasing her weight by an incredible amount. She overcomes this with the Sōshiken style of taijutsu.

**Sogeki'hei(Sniper):** Rin creates a bow out of her headband. This can only be used after activating Jin'ei Musha

**Yoru'ya(Night Arrow):** an arrow with a shaft formed of shadow chakra combined with a fire chakra arrowhead that explodes on impact. This can only be used in conjunction with Sogeki'hei

**Genma**

**Katon: Gōkakyū(Fire Release: Great Fireball):** A technique where chakra kneaded inside the body is converted into fire and expelled from the mouth either as a massive orb of roaring flame or as a continuous flame-thrower

**Shukaku**

**Tanuki Neiri(Feigning Sleep):** This ninjutsu forces the user to fall asleep. However, if the user suffers a strong direct blow, they subsequently will be awakened

**Fūton: Renkūdan(Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet):** To use this technique, Shukaku will first take a deep breath, and then pound its stomach to apply external pressure, the power of which it uses to shoot a highly compressed air ball from its mouth. The expelled air ball is mighty enough to hollow out the ground, and level an entire forest. Because of the large quantity of chakra kneaded into it, it explodes the moment it reaches its target, dealing an enormous amount of damage, as well as levelling anything in its path. Shukaku is able to fire multiple of these in rapid succession, having a certain level of control regarding the size of the bullets.


End file.
